Albany police

Police Chief James Tuffey has a plan to reorganize the department. He says it will put more officers on the streets, streamline their response to incidents, improve interaction with residents and strengthen oversight. But some people are concerned that the proposal, which calls for closing stations in Arbor Hill and the Pine Bush, will result in slower response times and sever positive relationships with beat officers they have come to know.

2 Responses

I think the people of Albany need to believe in the chief. He has displayed good judgment and his vision is long term.
By taking officers out of an office area[sub-station], he puts the officers where they belong, on the streets to observe react,and protect;
if the police are out on the street, they must be able to have a faster response time. By closing a building, it does not mean an area is abandoned, or anything is severed. With the level of technology today, every officer is seconds away from coming to the aid of a resident.
Let us support Chief Tuffey, in all the efforts he and Mayor Jennings are doing to keep us safe and help the City of Albany to move forth.

The City of Albany would also do well to close the after school programs. For several reasons:

1. It puts many children on the streets, after the dinner hour, where they may find themselves involved in crime, violence and, thereby, learning about and becoming involved in one or more criminal lifestyles. Incidents of this type have taken place with greater frequency since the Albany after-school programs have begun.

2. The after-school sites attract many other children (and adults who would target and victimize them) who do not participate in the after-school programs though they may be telling their parent(s) that this is where they are when away from home from 5:30 P.M. to 9:30 P.M..

3 No child is supervised outside the school building while still on school grounds. Adults can and do enter upon the grounds to interact with these children. Fights involving children and, sometimes, adults can and do take place without the after-school program staff taking notice. It becomes the responsibility of neighborhood residents to report these activities to the police who, because they think only children are involved, provide a minimal response like stopping at the curb, shining the police car spot light on them, telling them to quiet down and go home and then, immediately, leaving the scene. And to no or little effect. This is because the after-school programs are run by the City of Albany and not by the Albany Board of Education or the Albany School System which supervises everyone on school grounds during the day.

4. Despite what the official After-School Program policy may say, many children are allowed to leave the building and re-enter, if another child holds the door for them. The staff simply ignores this practice and denies it takes place.

5. Since the Albany After-School Programs have been implemented, in the late 1990s, there has been growing criminal activity and associated violence among children and adults within the City of Albany. Today’s young adults were, themselves, children 7-9 years ago.

6. Most non-violent crime, within the City of Albany, is underreported because of the weak and, sometimes, non-existent police response to it as well as the ability of the perpetrators to learn the identities of those reporting crime. Violent crime cannot be ignored because of the seriousness of the injuries to its victims.

7. Because crime statistics reflect only “reported crime, they cannot be trusted for reliably reflecting actual levels non-violent as well as some violent crime. This is why only City Hall and the APD are â€œsatisfiedâ€ with the low levels of non-violent crime reflected in the crime statistics. Also explaining why middle class seniors and young married couples with school age children have abandoned the City of Albany for the suburbs.

8. It is middle-class residents who can be most relied upon to report crime. Residents who cannot afford to leave must accommodate the criminality so they can continue to live, somewhat peacefully, among the criminals who surround and continue to threaten them.